BMW M3

Second place: Rare Breed

This car may be the most decorated soldier in the history of Car and Driver. The current BMW M3 has been a 10Best car every year since it was introduced in '95. It won our "Best-Handling Car for More Than $30,000" shootout in 1997 among some superstars, and it's won every C/D comparison test it's ever entered. That unparalleled string of victories ends here, but the M3 went down swinging.

This car remains a benchmark of performance-car handling. Its steering is sensitive, linear, and intuitive right up to the tires' traction limits. The suspension refuses to transmit breaks in the pavement and takes on depressions and bumps without upsetting the driver's cornering line. The ride is firm enough to let your keister monitor what's going on underneath, but not to the point of harshness. Unlike the other cars, the M3 dutifully telegraphs the moves of the rear tires as well as the fronts.

The driveline is more perfection. BMW's DOHC 240-hp, 3.2-liter six loves being wound to its 6500-rpm redline. Its song is sweet all the way there. It offers right-now torque, regardless of rpm level. The transmission, with its tightly defined shifter throws and silky clutch takeup, is the most cooperative of the group.

Precision is the M3's hole card. "Everything feels so tight, so buttoned down, and so immediate in this car,” wrote one tester. "There's no slack in the controls or the responses, from the give of the leather seat to how quickly revs die when you stab the clutch." There is, however, some rubber-banding in the driveline at traffic-jam speeds that requires attention to avoid. And this car could use a sixth gear. At 80 mph, the engine revs urgently at 3600 rpm as if straining at its leash, waiting to be cut loose with a wide-open throttle.

Somehow, the power and the grip seemed slightly diminished on this particular M3 relative to others we've tested. The 0-to-60-mph sprint took 6.0 seconds—a half-second slower than the last M3 we clocked. Roadholding was down by 0.03 g to 0.84, and the braking distance from 70 mph was poorer by 15 feet, at 167. Our test car's tires were Michelin Pilot Sports, which felt softer than the Pilot SXs on previous M3s. And then the M3 went out and turned the fastest lap at Nelson Ledges: 1:21.0!

Everything ages, and so has the M3. This is the only car in this pricey pack whose steering wheel neither tilts nor telescopes. The hard plastic on the dash, doors, and center console seems conspicuously cheap now. We're starting to notice that the high cowl in fact truncates the outward view. The ergonomics need improvement—the cruise-control lever is hidden low behind the steering wheel.

Other features need to be added. The M3 is the only one of our racehorses without keyless entry, power seats, heated seats, headlamp washers, rear fog lamps, and floor mats. Nonetheless, its $43,070 as-tested price is the second most expensive of the four cars here.

When viewed against the other cars' interiors, the M3’s feels cramped. Legroom is the most exiguous, front and rear, and the trunk holds just nine cubic feet, making it the minimalist of the four. The rear seat is the most difficult to get in to, and it's the least roomy, at least two cubic feet shy of the others in volume. The M3’s sport seat, standard on two-door models, offered ample support for hard driving. But drivers of more substantial girth found it confining.

Things may change when a new M3, based on the new E46 3-series, arrives next year. The BMW before you here may have lost its perpetual place on our hot-sedan podium, but its score of 93 is testimony to its greatness. If driving fast is your foremost priority, however, the M3 will remain at the top of your list.

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